Production and supply
1.Global dominance
China is the largest producer and consumer of walnut in the world, accounting for 28.58% of the world’s planting area and 36.14% of its output in 2024, ranking first in the world . Compared with the second ranked country, China’s planting area and output are 15.24% higher than Turkey and 18.53% higher than the US .
2.Domestic regional centralization
Yunnan, Xinjiang and Sichuan are the three major producing areas, accounting for more than 65% of the total output of the country. Of this total, Yunnan produced 1,913,300 tons (32.24%), Xinjiang produced 1,272,200 tons (21.44%) and Sichuan produced 608,300 tons (11.46%) .
3.Enterprise scale
The number of walnut planting and processing related enterprises in the country continues to grow, leading enterprises such as “Six walnut” annual procurement of raw materials more than 100 million kilograms, accounting for the world’s deep processing enterprises to purchase the first, and obtained the international authoritative certification .
Second, market and consumption
1.market size
In 2023, China’s walnut market scale reached 14.973 billion yuan, accounting for 28.5% of the world; The compound growth rate is expected to be 2.54%-6.03% from 2023 to 2029, and the global market size may exceed 61.98 billion yuan in 2029 .
2.Consumer demand to upgrade
The concept of healthy diet promotes the growth of walnut consumption, and first – and second-tier cities are the main consumption areas. The diversification trend of deep-processed products is obvious, such as walnut milk, walnut oil, etc., to meet the needs of nutrition and taste .
3.foreign trade advantage
China’s walnut exports far exceed imports, mainly exported to Kyrgyzstan and other markets, remarkable international competitiveness .
Technological innovation and industrial upgrading
1.processing technology breakthrough
Leading enterprises adopt the “5 · 3 · 28” process and the whole walnut CET cold extraction process, etc., to achieve micron-level refinement of walnut milk particles, the retention rate of nutrients is 97%, and the absorption rate is significantly improved .
2.Scientific research support
The white paper “Walnut and Brain Health Science” published in 2024 systematically explains seven scientific paths for walnut to improve brain function for the first time, providing theoretical support for product research and development . Industry-university-research cooperation mechanisms (such as China Walnut Industry Research Institute) promote whole-life cycle brain health research .
Challenges and policy environment
1.The existing problems
The industry still faces bottlenecks such as low mechanization, backward post-harvest processing technology, and insufficient processing equipment, which restrict large-scale development .
2.Policies and trends
National policies support industrial standardization and large-scale upgrading, and promote the optimization of planting structure. In the future, deep processing product innovation, brand building and international market expansion will be the key to growth .
Sum up
In 2024, China’s walnut industry will maintain its leading position in the world, with regional centralized production and significant innovation drive by leading enterprises, but it needs to further break through technical bottlenecks and improve the industrial chain to cope with the upgrading of healthy consumer demand and international market competition.
